Hurricanes win 12-try thriller

The Hurricanes claimed their first win of the Super Rugby season on Saturday with 60-27 victory over the Cheetahs at Westpac Stadium.

The Hurricanes claimed their first win of the Super Rugby season on Saturday with 60-27 victory over the Cheetahs at Westpac Stadium.

It was hardly an advertisement for good defence, but the game certainly offered up plenty of entrainment as the 'Canes outscored their visitors nine tries to three to celebrate Conrad Smith's 100th match for the Wellington outfit in style.

Hurricanes fly-half Beauden Barrett scored 23 points, including two tries, in an excellent display of playmaking and goal-kicking as his side broke an eight-game losing streak.

The Hurricanes were up 29-20 at the end of a closely-contested first half that saw the lead change no less than five times.

But the turning point came early in the second period when Willie le Roux was harshly sin-binned for intentionally knocking the ball down, although it seemed like he was attempting a legitimate intercept.

The hosts made the extra man count, scoring 14 unanswered points in Le Roux's absence to stretch the lead to 43-20 with 30 minutes still to play.

From there it was always going to be an uphill battle for the Cheetahs, and although they pulled one try back, the unstructured nature of the game played into the Hurricanes' hands and they pressed their advantage home with three more tries in final quarter.

The result sees the Hurricanes jump from last place to ninth in the overall standings while the Cheetahs, who are winless in three games on tour, are now propping up the table.